The speakers, representing the National Alliance for Tobacco Control, the Pakistan Chest Society, the Pakistan Medical Association and the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association, expressed grave concern about news recently that the federal government is considering a decrease in taxation on cigarettes in the coming budget.
Pakistan has the lowest taxation on cigarettes in the region, according to Professor Javaid Khan, consultant chest physician of Aga Khan University and chairman of the National Alliance for Tobacco Control. Low rate of taxation encourages people to smoke, especially young people, he added. He cited a research conducted by the World Bank in low-income country like Pakistan, according to which increase in tax on tobacco by 10 percent can reduce its consumption by 8 percent.
The speakers also said that in order to curb the growing tobacco epidemic in the country, the government should increase taxation on cigarettes. Significant increases in tobacco taxes are a highly effective tobacco control strategy, they explained, and in turn lead to significant improvement in public health. According to a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), cigarette smoking kills a hundred thousand Pakistanis every year,
In a given year, it said, the death toll of Pakistani smokers is far greater than all the deaths caused by suicide bombings, traffic accidents and crime-related killings. Meanwhile, cigarette consumption is increasing year by year in the country. It said.
On average, annual consumption of cigarettes in Pakistani is 510 per individual, which the report described as an alarming figure. Research conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer last year showed that a 50-percent increase in inflation-adjusted prices for cigarettes reduces smoking prevalence by 20 percent. Professor Javaid Khan warned that in individuals suffering from hypertension and/or diabetes tobacco in any form increases an already extensive risk of heart disease.
The nicotine in tobacco increases insulin resistance in the body and hampers good control of diabetes, he explained. He expressed regret at the closing of the Tobacco Control Cell in Islamabad, which had been working under the ministry of health. Professor Nadeem A. Rizvi, who is president of the Chest Health and Education Society and head of the department of chest diseases in Jinnah Hospital, said tobacco is responsible for almost 50 percent of all cancer cases in the country. Despite this grim percentage, he added, smoking not only continues to be advertised at the point of sale and but is portrayed by TV drama serials as a pleasurable, glamorous, adventurous and "cool" act.
He demanded a comprehensive ban on all forms of tobacco advertising and sponsorship in the country. Dr Nisar Rao of Dow University of Health Sciences pointed out that passive smoking is a serious health risk to non-smokers. He asked for all public places and public transport vehicles to be made smoking free for the protection of the health of non-smokers.
As for Pakistani doctors, he said, they should not only set a good example by not smoking themselves, but should also work to make clinics, health centres and hospitals smoking- free. Dr Sohail Akhter of the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association, appealed to the lawyers to come forward and help in litigations against the tobacco industry for its violations of the country's anti-tobacco laws. The tobacco industry should be held responsible for the deaths taking place every year in the country because of tobacco use, he said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017